Editorial: Cut amount charged for public document copies

EDITOR'S NOTE: This edited opinion was publish Friday in The Times of Trenton.

Unfortunately, common sense sometimes must be legislated. Such a case is now pending in the state Assembly.

Three lawmakers want to do away with the exorbitant rates some state agencies charge to provide copies of public documents. Instead of allowing offices to charge what they will, the bill calls for establishing reasonable and set fees for copies of state government documents. Under current law, document copying fees vary widely, with some state departments and agencies allowed to charge residents seeking information up to $10 per page.

That wholesale gouging of the public has to stop, and this bill is the way to do so. It mandates that the cost charged to an individual for public records could not exceed 10 cents per page for letter-size copies or 15 cents per page for legal-size copies. The fees would be applicable to documents from the Office of the State Treasurer or the Board of Public Utilities, motor vehicle accident reports and other records. A similar standard for municipal offices would also be welcome.

Passage of this bill, of course, will benefit the news media in our efforts to provide information. But it will also benefit every citizen who wants to review public records. A nominal fee to cover copying costs is not unreasonable, but dissemination of these documents should not be a money-making venture. Those records, after all, belong to all of us.

We urge Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts to waste no time in posting this bill for a floor vote. Unfortunately, common sense sometimes must be legislated. Such a case is now pending in the state Assembly.